[MUSIC PLAYING] Today is November 5, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] T-minus. 22nd to LOS, T-dred. Open aboard. [INAUDIBLE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] Five. ESA confirms the successful launch and deployment of the Sentinel-1D satellite via the Ariane 6. Four. SEALS SQ, WISE-KEY, and the Swiss Armed Forces advance quantum-secure satellite communications. Three. China's Shenzhou-20 return mission is delayed after a suspected space debris impact. Two. US President Trump renominates Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. One. Google launches project Suncatcher for space-based AI infrastructure. [MUSIC PLAYING] Happy Wednesday, everybody. Thank you for joining me. A quick note, we are now in our longest ever official US government shutdown, 36 days shutdown and counting. Well then, let's get on with our daily briefing, shall we? In a blog post today, Google Research is detailing a new research initiative that they are calling Project Suncatcher, the blueprints for a constellation of solar-powered satellites carrying tensor processing units, or TPUs, to operate as space-based AI data centers. The design envisions tightly clustered satellite formations connected via free space optical links capable of terabits per second bandwidth, operating in nearly continuous sunlight to dramatically reduce reliance on terrestrial infrastructure. And in Google's words, to scale machine learning compute in space. These plans are preliminary, and the research does note that there are some challenges they still need to overcome, including making sure that any TPUs on orbit are properly radiation hardened. And other familiar challenges like thermal management and good old orbital mechanics, also notable. Google says that they expect to build out their constellation once launch costs are under $200 per kilogram by the mid-2030s and reading between the lines that is likely when SpaceX's Starship is fully operational fingers crossed. In the meantime, their next key milestone is early 2027, when Google says they will launch two prototype satellites in partnership with Earth Observation Firm, Planet. According to Google, this 2027 prototype mission will quote, "Test how our models and TPU hardware operate in space and validate the use of optical intersatellite links for distributed ML tasks." It's always very interesting to see advances in orbital data centers, and like many of you, I'm sure we will be watching how Project Suncatcher progresses with great interest. There's a new chapter in the Will They Story of Jared Isaacman and NASA now. US President Donald Trump has renominated the billionaire entrepreneur, private astronaut, and ally of Elon Musk, Jared Isaacman, to become administrator of NASA after withdrawing his initial nomination just this past May. Trump's withdrawal of Isaacman's nomination followed a rather notable tiff, shall we say, between Trump and Isaacman's main man, Musk. Isaacman's renomination now comes at a moment of strategic transition for the US Space Agency, which, as we have covered extensively here on T-minus, is facing massive budget cuts, workforce reductions, and project delays. As before, Isaacman must now await Senate confirmation in a process that the administration hopes to expedite. A process that, by the way, can still happen even during a government shutdown. In the meantime, Capitol Hill's Scuttlebutt is that acting NASA administrator, Sean Duffy, is quite keen to keep his post and become not so interim. Undoubtedly, we will see how this all plays out in the coming weeks. China's crewed spacecraft, the Shenzhou-20 docked at Tiangong Space Station since April 24, has unfortunately had its return to Earth postponed after detecting possible damage from a small piece of orbital debris. The China manned space agency issued a statement that a, quote, "impact analysis and risk assessment are currently underway and no new landing date has yet been provided. The extent of any damage is not public at this time, nor is it known when exactly the Shenzhou-20 was impacted by debris." That said, if the crew cannot return via the Shenzhou-20, the 21 just docked at Tiangong last week and can be used as a backup option. This is the first time a return trip from Tiangong has been delayed specifically by space debris impact. Swiss semiconductor company SEALS SQ and its parent company, Wisekey, which specializes in cybersecurity, AI, and IoT, have updated their multi-year collaboration with the Swiss Armed Forces to improve the security of satellite communication, specifically to use post-quantum and the end-encrypted satellite communications. The partnership was initiated in 2022 and will now integrate SEALS SQ's post-quantum semiconductors and Wisekey's Swiss route of trust to secure satellite to ground and inter-satellite links. According to the announcement, the work supports Switzerland's sovereign space and cyber defense goals and addresses vulnerabilities in conventional satellite backhaul systems. And in their announcement, they specifically cited the recent bombshell research by the University of Maryland and University of California San Diego researchers about sensitive military and national security data being sent via satellite completely unencrypted and easily eavesdropped. And by the way, we covered that as our top story on our October 14th, 2025 show. Link is in the show notes if you need a refresher. All that said, deployment on these capabilities is still pending following formal procurement procedures by the Swiss government and parliament. And yesterday, ESA marked the successful launch and deployment of its latest satellite for the Copernicus Earth Observation Constellation, the Sentinel-1D. The satellite launched via an Ariane space Ariane 6 in Kourou, French Guiana on Tuesday evening, 6.02 p.m. local time and went off without any problems with the Sentinel-1D inserted into its target orbit 34 minutes after launch. The Sentinel-1D is a C-band synthetic aperture radar satellite providing high-res images of Earth at all times and in all weather conditions. And this launch formally completes the Sentinel-1 mission for ESA. Once 1D is commissioned, it will replace the Sentinel-1A, which has been in service for 11 long years and is well past its expected lifetime. And for those of us on the east coast of North America, that swirly pattern in the sky last night while walking your dog was indeed the Ariane 6 just doing its thing. So please inform your local Facebook groups because if they were anything like mine, people were freaking out. And in a launch news footnote, as of the time of this recording, we are awaiting the latest Rocket Lab electron launch from New Zealand with the mission, the nation God navigates. This will be Rocket Lab's sixth launch for the Japanese satellite manufacturer and operator IQPS for their planned 36 satellite SAR constellation. This mission specifically will deploy the QPS SAR-14 satellite nicknamed Yachihoko-1 for the Japanese God of nation building, in case you were wondering about that interesting mission name. I know I was. And that is our Intel briefing for you today, my friends. It was a packed Wednesday, to be sure. And we have links in the show notes for you to all of the stories that I've mentioned for you today, in case you'd like to pour over Google's project on catch or research or listen to our prior episode about satellite eavesdropping related to today's announcement from Switzerland. Good stuff, right? Show notes are in your podcast app, as well as at our official website, which is space.ntuk.com. All you need to do is click on today's episode to see the show notes and off you go. Hi, T-minus crew. In case you didn't know, we post links to every episode of T-minus Space Daily, along with the major headlines on our LinkedIn page. Just look for N2K T-minus Space Daily on LinkedIn and click follow to get our episodes and headlines directly in your feed every weekday and Saturday. And by the way, we are just a few folks short of hitting 3,500 followers on LinkedIn, and we would love your help to get to that big milestone. After all, a lot of us are spending quite a bit of time on LinkedIn nowadays, and surely a daily space until briefing from us would be a nice break from, I don't know, posts about how insert tedious outrage bait of the day relates to B2B sales, right? Right. And 2K T-minus Space Daily on LinkedIn, just tap that follow button, and maybe you'll be our lucky number 3,500. Ooh, and thanks. (upbeat music) We'll be right back. Welcome back. You know, I was on stage at an event yesterday, the Cybersecurity Innovation Day held by our friends at Data Tribe, in fact, and I was holding it out for all things space at this very cybersecurity event. And my colleague, Dave Bittner, who was emceeing the panel I was on, asked me if I thought AI was a bubble. And as cynical as I personally might feel about AI at times, in the context of space, I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about its applications and possibilities. That said, I don't know about you, but I am seeing a lot of disinformation and putting it as politely as I can. AI slop videos, putting a lot of mind-bogglingly wrong information out in the world, especially about space. Just the other day, in fact, I saw this viral video of, I'm quoting here, "An asteroid slamming into the surface of the moon, complete with dramatic and completely impossible on the moon plumey mushroom cloud seen from Earth." Come on. And while it was immediately obvious to me, a lot of the comments I saw indicated that this video had a lot of people fooled that it was real. Unless those comments were AI too, hmm, possible. In any case, in the fight against nonsense, we're fighting for our life out there, people. So I am happy to report that this bit of news I'm about to share with you, written by Daisy Dobrojevich at space.com, is most definitely legitimate and not AI slop. Hooray. Two actual meteors slammed into the actual moon, and it was all captured live from Earth by Japanese astronomer, Daiji Fuji. He filmed two bright flashes on the lunar night side on October 30th and November 1st, and those flashes were likely part of the Taurid meteor shower. The impacts occurred near the Gassendi and Oceanus prosolarum regions, and were caused by small meteoroids hitting the moon at approximately 60,000 miles per hour. One strike from one of the rocks, likely weighing a mere 0.2 kilograms, excavated a crater nearly 10 feet wide, and that impact lasted, of course, only a fraction of a second. With no atmosphere to slow them down, lunar impacts blast at full speed, producing flashes that can be captured from Earth. But again, this is important, folks. No mushroom clouds, okay? Because our planet is shielded by thick air, and the moon rather famously isn't. The moon gets hit pretty frequently by high-velocity space debris, and astronomer Fuji not only has made a number of such observations, but he has become one of the foremost observers of moon impacts, having seen about 60 so far since 2011. Link is in the show notes if you would like to see for yourself and verify that this is real. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) And that is T-minus, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. We'd love to know what you think of this podcast. Your feedback ensures we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like the show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space@n2k.com. We are proud that N2K Cyberwire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector, from the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies. N2K helps space and cybersecurity professionals grow, learn, and stay informed. As the nexus for discovery and connection, we bring you the people, the technology, and the ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at N2K.com. N2K's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliott Peltzman and Tre Hester, with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben. Peter Kilpey is our publisher, and I am your host, Maria Vermazis. Thank you for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. - T-minus. - [BLANK_AUDIO]
